[A-List] US imperialism: Iraq

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Army wins battle for larger force to invade Iraq
IAN BRUCE
The Herald, 6 November 2002

THE US army has won a battle with Pentagon officials over the size of the
force needed to guarantee success in an invasion of Iraq and is now planning
to field between 115,000 and 130,000 troops.

The deployment will include two to three US armoured divisions, with 400
tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles apiece; a light division equipped with
more than 300 assault helicopters; and a marine expeditionary force.

Britain would be expected to provide special forces from the SAS and the
SBS, its Royal Marines equivalent, three tank regiments and a total of
15,000 to 20,000 men.

Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, had advocated the use of a small,
powerful and fast-moving force of about 80,000 to topple Saddam Hussein's
regime in a lightning campaign designed to minimise casualties.

General Tommy Franks, the head of US Central Command, demanded a force
capable of exploiting either the rapid collapse of Iraq's 350,000-strong
army or a slogging match against desperate resistance in the streets of
Baghdad.

A Pentagon source said yesterday: "Franks is a conventional and cautious
general. He wants to go in loaded for bear, looking at worst-case scenarios.
Rumsfeld questioned conventional military wisdom, seeking light, fast and
deadly.

"The entire debate has been about justifying deployment of manpower and
expense. Rumsfeld knows it will not be another Afghanistan, with a handful
of Delta troopers on horseback calling in air strikes to break resistance.

"His management strategy for a hidebound military establishment has been to
question accepted wisdom on numbers. In the end, no-one wants to go in light
and court disaster. The trick is striking a balance."

Part of the acceptance of higher force levels stems from the need to secure
Saddam's nerve gas and germ warfare stocks quickly and eliminate his arsenal
of 20-plus Scud missiles in advance of a ground assault by allied troops.

Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, meanwhile said the United Nations
was close to agreeing a resolution on Iraq that gives Washington scope to
act alone if Baghdad blocks arms inspections.

Powell said he was confident weeks of negotiations over the issue were close
to a compromise all the security council members could live with.

The United States expects to submit a resolution this week, intended to give
unrestricted access to arms inspectors who will return to Iraq, and hopes
for unanimous backing after amending it to meet concerns of other members.

The US and Britain hope for a vote by Friday.

Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi president, has agreed to allow inspectors to
return after a four-year absence.